The new technology surrounding Voice over Internet phone plans (VoIP Phones) and all the different ways they can deployed in home and office environments, makes VoIP confusing to a lot of people. For home users and cell phone customers, it is very simple to use and no knowledge of VoIP technology is needed. Yet, VoIP usage is still not at the level many industry experts thought it should be. The VoIP consumer marketplace is competitive with phone companies and VoIP providers battling for the consumer’s minds and wallets. As long as consumers are content and don’t understand VoIP service and its value, the big phone companies can keep charging excessively high phone call rates and providing fewer services.

Many consumers still lack the information about VoIP phones and Internet phone service plans they need to make a shift to VoIP. Many will wait until there is a critical mass effect. That’s when a large number of people will shift to VoIP and when VoIP lingo is a common part of people’s vocabulary. Since VoIP operates seamlessly with current phone systems, it’s not a technology that jumps out at people.

Not long ago Google was an obscure web search engine that had little consumer usage. But then Google started to make noise, and it did so with the help of students and web marketers who believed it had something to offer. Now, the word Google is used as a verb and people wonder how they ever got along with its info finding magic. VoIP is starting the same way but still hasn’t found a way to move into mainstream consumer lifestyles. Rest assured though, that VoIP companies are targeting a variety of consumer demographic groups such as teens with cell phones, migrating people to Europe and North America who want to stay in close contact with their relatives back home, and businesses with multiple distant office locations who need inter-office phone communications. For regular home phone users, the value proposition they’re receiving is not as compelling. That will change too as VoIP companies research ways to make that home phone service more valuable to consumers, or to make it unnecessary to keep it.

That critical mass event happens when users believe they have a clear cost savings advantage to make the switch from using their regular telephone service to a VoIP phone service. Being able to dump the home phone would certainly provide a reduction in monthly bills, but consumers aren’t dropping their expensive land lines, even though they may have cable television and cell phone bills to boot. In telecommunications, it seems consumers are over-serviced, and a solution is needed. Internet telephony has that potential to eliminate some of the redundant services, but it hasn’t matured to the point where it can shape the phone services market by itself.

Phone companies in defending themselves, put a fair amount of effort into discussing the possible downside of VoIP and some have even put restrictions on VoIP transmissions to try to thwart VoIP service providers. Old stories of lost calls, garbled voice quality, non functional 911 assistance, and loss of privacy don’t carry much weight anymore though. Quality and technical issues are almost all resolved and the services continue to improve. So, if it’s not technical issues that are preventing widespread VoIP adoption, then what is the problem?

Need to Drop the Land Line

Many consumers won’t adopt a VoIP service until they can drop their current phone company land line completely. Despite the desire to do so, many appear to be resisting eliminating their dependence on the old lines. Most don’t want to be paying for two phone services at the same time, yet they do. A billion people on the planet have cell phones now, so that means there are a lot of phone lines that aren’t necessary, or that are too expensive given the value they offer. As long as phone companies can make customer’s land lines indispensable, or encourage them to stay put, they know their customers won’t switch to VoIP plans. So that leaves many consumers with more than one phone, a home phone and a mobile phone, and it’s costing them a lot of money.

For those who don’t make frequent long distance phone calls, the cost savings from VoIP service plans aren’t compelling enough. However, when you add the cost of the call and line features that phone companies add onto the monthly phone bill, the scenario changes. Call features such as caller ID, call blocking, call waiting, and voice mail, are free with VoIP plans. If these aren’t enough to entice consumers, VoIP companies will certainly look to sweeten the offer. Internet protocol communications are improving all the time and there will be more to offer the consumer such as; services via PDA’s, Blackberries, and IP hard phones connected to WiFi and WiMax services.

Internet Phoning Drawbacks

When VoIP users make a call to another VoIP user, the call is essentially free. However, not everyone has a VoIP-based phone to receive VoIP calls. Many only have their land line or in some cases, a cell phone. That means the call has to go from the Internet into the PSTN or public switched phone system in the destination state or country. This is where the cost of a call shows up. Usually the cost is low for terminating the call to the end user. If the caller is making a long distance call however, this nominal cost is a small sacrifice compared to what they’ll be paying on their traditional home phone service.

High speed DSL customers must have their basic phone service, so as long as they need the high speed Internet connection, they might not switch to VoIP. For cable subscribers, a land line is not needed and VoIP works very well with Cable Internet service. For cable subscribers, the land-based home phone really isn’t needed so the jump to VoIP should be an easy one for cable subscribers. If they aren’t making the leap to VoIP, it might indicate a lack of confidence in cable networks. Most people still have trouble comprehending that a voice telephone call can go through the cable company, or that it will be reliable. Cable companies have come a long way with their technology and networks and are more than capable of providing top notch phone services.

With better education of telecommunications consumers and the presentation of a solid value proposition that offers more than a little cost savings, VoIP will grow steadily. For those with international calling needs, VoIP is already the solution they’re looking for. For small businesses with lots of long distance calling, the savings are even more pronounced. What’s needed is more consumer education. With that, many will finally wean themselves from their dependence on that old analog-based land line telephone and launch into an era of cheap digital phone calls. That day is coming soon as the major phone companies are under increasing pressure to raise the price of local phone service in the face of a major shift to VoIP transmission. Critical mass will occur when price plus features create a force that overcomes consumer’s inertia.



Thanks to Scott White for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

Broadband Internet Phone Service

Broadband phone is the amazing technology to day that give many benefits for their users. Broadband phone actually uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to carry phone calls through the internet. This is an alternative way to transmit the call to the traditional telephony network.

How Does it Work?

Exactly, VOIP allows you to make phone calls through your internet connection, it works by converting a phone signal into ‘packets’ of information that are sent down an internet connection, and then converted back into an ordinary phone signal at the other end. A hardware broadband telephone uses an adapter. You connect this hardware to the router on your network or to your PC directly. Another option is software. The broadband software is a program that makes broadband calls.

For all VOIP, a broadband connection is essential. Most phones will take up around 64k for sending your voice, and 64k for receiving the other voice, so a 128k broadband is the absolute minimum requirement to ensure no gaps in call quality.

Advantages of Voip Broadband Phone Services :

1. Save money

Using VoIP Broadphone phone is a cheaper option if you make a lot of long distance and international calls. All calls between people using the same service provider are free regardless of location. Branch offices to head office communication be free cost, if we use this service. By using a VOIP system, you can save large amounts of money, its better choice than traditional phone.

2. Voip Features

Many features that support telecommunication user:

- call waiting

- caller ID

- three-way calling

- call forwarding

- last number redial

- speed dial

- voicemail

3. User Mobility

When traveling, you can take the VoIP adapter with you and instantly turn a phone anywhere in the world into your local phone. This will require a high speed internet connection. It’s flexible tool so your communication can moveable

4.Easier Call Directing

A major advantage of VOIP phones is that they allow a call to be directed to a phone, not a location. If for example, you travel between two broadband equipped offices (or even abroad), you could take the phone with you, and have all your calls go direct to you in either office, whilst an internal call from your VOIP system would still be free! This offers many of the benefits of mobile phones, but for far less cost.

How to choose a Broadband Phone ?

Essentially, there are two kinds of VoIP (Broadband Phone) applications to consider, either hardware or software based. If you choose the software solution, you’ll have to have your computer urned on in order to both make and receive telephone calls, but the only equipment you’ll need is a microphone and speakers connected to your computer.

If you choose the hardware solution instead, you’ll be using a converter box called an ATA that will be attached to your high-speed internet connection. Your telephone can then be plugged into the ATA. The converter box takes the analog signal from your phone and converts it to a digital signal to be sent over the internet in data packets, which are then reassembled on the other end of the telephone connection. By using a hardware VoIP (Broadband Phone) solution, you computer does not have to be on in order for you to make and receive telephone calls, although your Internet connection will have to be active. Many VoIP (Broadband Phone) service providers are including the ATA at very low cost or even for free in some cases.

Are there any disadvantages with a VoIP (Broadband Phone) solution?

Although most VoIP (Broadband Phone) service providers have Emergency 911 there are still a few that do not. To be sure, the biggest disadvantage that skeptics will throw at you is what happens when your power goes out at home or you lose your Broadband Internet connection. You see VoIP (Broadband Phone) relies on having a broadband connection so if that goes down so does your Internet phone service. However, in the days when most of us have a cell phone of some sort, even if it is just “pay as you go”, is this really a big issue? Another option that many people go for is to have a cheap regular local phone service to use just on those rare occasions when you lose your power or broadband connection.

Finally the best choice for your telecommunication that we suggest is voip broadband phone.



Thanks to sam budhianto for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

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